MIAA media day notes: Inclusive conference schedule debuts

Teams won't step out of conference in 2014

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Beginning this season, there won’t be a nonconference reprieve for the 12 teams competing in the conference known as the SEC of Division II football.

Each MIAA team will play an 11-game, round-robin schedule against each other.

While every coach in the conference was in agreement that the new schedule will be a grind, most coaches supported the change.

“The conference is hard, but when you have the number of teams we have, it’s the only fair way to determine a conference champion,” Washburn coach Craig Schurig said Tuesday at MIAA media day at Sporting Park. “You’d like to have some (nonconference) games to get you going, but everybody’s in the same boat that way.

“I’m proud the conference decided to do it this way. To not play (everybody in the conference) and then determine who’s first and second, it really isn’t the competitive way to do it. You need to play everybody when the numbers are the way they are.”

However, some coaches have mixed emotions about the elimination of nonconference games.

“Last year we got to go to South Dakota, and our kids got to see Mount Rushmore,” Missouri Southern coach Daryl Daye said. “(The new format) takes away your opportunity to get to do that. It takes away your opportunity for money gain.

“I’m anxious to see how it unfolds. It’s definitely going to be one of the toughest schedules our school has ever had. I’m pretty sure it’s that way with the rest of the schools, because of the toughness of week to week.”

The switch to the inclusive schedule was made possible after the MIAA reached a scheduling alliance with the Great Lakes Valley Conference last year, allowing MIAA members Southwest Baptist and Lincoln to play its football games in the GLVC starting this season.

ROBINSON STARTS REBUILDING PROJECT AT NSU — Rob Robinson’s first priority at Northeastern State was testing his players in an effort to change mindsets.

So far, the former Washburn offensive coordinator has been pleased with how his team has responded.

“I really like the way the kids have accepted the change,” said Robinson, who inherits a team that went 2-9 last season. “The kids want to work at the end of the day. They want to win. They’ve really bought in.

“I tried my best to get some of them to go away, because I wanted to show them what it was going to take.”

Robinson spent 12 seasons on Schurig's staff at Washburn before joining the RiverHawks.

FORT HAYS STATE AIMING FOR BREAKTHROUGH SEASON — After guiding the Fort Hays State Tigers to its first winning season since 2009 last season, former Washburn defensive coordinator Chris Brown has every reason to believe his squad will take another huge step forward next season.

The Tigers lost their first four games last season before winning six of their final seven games to post a 6-5 record.

“Winning six of those last seven games really gave us some confidence and a little momentum heading into summer,” Brown said. “Our kids are ready. They’re fired up, and we got a little momemtum going on right now. We just have to keep it up.

Fort Hays State was picked to finish eighth in both preseason polls.

BEARCATS EYEING REPEAT — Not long after claiming the national championship last season, the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats were ready to move on and focus on adding another chapter to its storied program.

“We had our three or four weeks for winter break to enjoy it, but I feel like we did a really good job of coming back and feeling like we still had something to prove,” Northwest linebacker Eric Reimer said. “We found the spark that makes us want to do it again. We have a senior class of 20 guys and we’d like to go out with a national championship.”

Northwest finished 15-0 last year, capping the season with a 43-28 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne in the national title game.